Starstruck
by YoursAlways
Summary: All of them wildly popular and at the peaks of their careers, the paths of three young actors cross in a way none of them expected. And so, as Ryouma, Izumi, and Kagome become more involved in each others lives, they begin to realize that drama can extend beyond the shows that they star in.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I own neither Inuyasha nor Love Stage! and make no money from these writings.

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Starstruck

Chapter One

It was late when Ryouma finally got back home after a long day of shooting. The project he'd been part of had been fun, but the hours were long and had kept him away from Izumi for far longer than he liked. That being said, he wasn't exactly broken up about the last day of filming. He was as in demand as ever though (something that made his ego inflate a little whenever he happened to remind himself of the fact), and his manager had sent him home with three new scripts to go over for what he would potentially be working on next.

"I'm home," Ryouma called out from the entryway as he toed off his shoes and slid on a pair of slippers.

"Welcome home!" A slightly muffled voice called from deeper in the apartment. It was only a moment later that Izumi appeared from around the corner of the kitchen wearing an apron.

Ryouma paused. He hesitated before finally asking, "Were you cooking?"

Frowning at Ryouma's tone, Izumi answered, "You don't have to look so scared at the thought of it." When his boyfriend's face went a little pale, he rolled his eyes before turning around and walking back towards the kitchen. "No, I got takeout. When you texted me to let me know you were on your way, I started heating it up."

"You mean you haven't eaten yet?" Ryouma asked, a little disapproving.

Izumi turned back to him and smiled, "We haven't gotten to have a meal together in a while, so I figured that it wouldn't kill me to wait for you to get home. I like eating with you, Ryouma."

Feeling his chest tighten a little, Ryouma wondered if Izumi's smile would ever _not_ make butterflies dance in his stomach. More than two years together and he still felt like a schoolgirl around Izumi at times. Laying his bag on the table, he walked up behind the smaller man and rested his hands on his boyfriend's shoulders before kissing the top of his head. "So," he began when Izumi tipped his head back to look up at him, "what's for dinner?"

"Your favorite from that little French place downtown," Izumi answered as he took a takeout plate from the microwave and transferred the contents to a plate. Truthfully, it tasted better heated up in the oven, but they'd long ago established that Izumi was forbidden from using the oven or stove. Or blender. Or garbage disposal. Or knives. Really, he'd been limited to the microwave and refrigerator.

"It smells great. Let me go change and then we can eat. I'm starving!"

"So today was a wrap on the drama you'd been working on, right?" Izumi asked as Ryouma returned to their table and they sat down together.

"Yes," Ryouma breathed. "Finally."

"Hmm? I thought you liked this one?"

"I did," he clarified. "The plot and script were great. So was the rest of the cast and crew. and It just felt like filming dragged out for a long time, especially here at the end."

"Oh, well I can understand in that case," Izumi smiled before taking a bite of food.

Ryouma figured that if anyone could relate, it would be Izumi. Family legacy aside, he was in equally high demand with his talent and cute face. Even now at twenty-one, he looked much younger than he actually was and was still very petite for a man. In the media, he was much more often referred to as "beautiful" or "pretty" rather than "handsome."

"So how much of a break do you think you'll have?" Izumi asked after a sip of water. "Do you know what you'll be working on next?"

Swallowing before he answered, Ryouma glanced towards his bag which still rested on the other end of the table. "I have some scripts that I'm supposed to look over. I'll probably get started on that after dinner."

"It's so late though," Izumi said in a slightly whining tone. "Do you really have to do it tonight?"

"I _should_ ," Ryouma shrugged. "You know how it goes. They want answers sooner rather than later."

Izumi was quiet for a few moments as they both ate in silence before he finally spoke up again. "Well, in that case, do you want some help? I know you well enough by now to tell what kind of scripts you will and won't like."

"Are you sure?" Ryouma asked, surprised but happy at the offer. "What about your work?"

"It's fine," Izumi waved him off. "I have a free day tomorrow unless something suddenly comes up."

"That would be great then," Ryouma smiled. The rest of dinner was light as they talked about their days and upcoming plans in the work schedules. Once the table was cleared, the dishes were washed, and they were settled in the living room, Ryouma pulled the scripts he'd been given out of his bag. "So," he said as he laid them out on the coffee table. "Which one do you want to start with?"

Izumi glanced over them, looking at the working titles for the shows and the director and producer names attached to each. But his eyes went wide when he spotted one title in particular. Snatching up the bound stack of paper, Izumi looked up at Ryouma with a slack jaw as he pointed down at the script in his hand. "Do you know what this is?!"

Leaning over to see which one Izumi had picked up, Ryouma read the title aloud, " _Bride of the Water God_?"

"Yeah, do you _know_ what this _is_?"

"No?"

Izumi dropped the script on the couch before he scrambled to his feet and ran off to another room leaving Ryouma confused as he picked up the script to flip through it. It didn't take long before Izumi came rushing back into the room with multiple paperback books in each hand.

"This!" He said excitedly as he laid out the comics on the couch between them for Ryouma's inspection. "This is _Bride of the Water God_!"

"A manga?" Ryouma asked as he set aside the script and picked up the first volume of the series to flip through the first pages.

"No, no, no," Izumi shook his head. "It's _manhwa_. Similar to manga, but it's Korean."

"Oh, well that makes sense," Ryouma said more to himself than Izumi. Looking over just the art, he was able to see some of the difference between these comics and the usual manga that Izumi read.

"What do you mean?"

"From what I was told earlier, one of the scripts - I'm guessing this one - was apparently going to be a K-drama, but the company in Korea that was getting ready to produce it went under suddenly. So the script was put up for a bid and a producer here in Japan grabbed it up."

Checking the front of the script again, Izumi made a face before he looked up at Ryouma. "Have you looked at who got it?"

A little nervous at Izumi's reaction, Ryouma frowned, "No." They switched script for comic, and Ryouma read over the cover page.

 _Bride of the Water God  
Producer: Jin Kisaragi_

"Tch," Ryouma frowned deeper as he tossed the script back onto the coffee table. "Pass."

"No!" Izumi immediately wailed as he snatched the script back up and held it to his chest. "You can't just pass this up because you don't like Kisaragi. This is a great story!" Pausing to flip past the cover pages, Izumi looked for the highlighted part and practically started vibrating. "Look! Look here! You're up for the part of Mui!"

"So?" Ryouma asked. He _really_ didn't want to have to work with Kisaragi if he didn't have to. Sure, things had gotten better between them after the first drama that he and Izumi had filmed together (after the horrible disaster it started out as, anyway), but there was still a fair amount of bad blood between them on Ryouma's part.

Izumi picked up one of his comics and flipped through a few pages before he stopped on one page and held the book up next to Ryouma's head. "You would make a _perfect_ Mui! Please, please, please! At least read over the script, without thinking about who's producing it, before you say no. Read this one before the others. If you _really_ don't like it, I'll let it go. I won't be happy, but I'll respect your decision. But you have to give it a chance first!"

Seeing Izumi this excited about a project that wasn't even one he'd be working on actually managed to get Ryouma interested in just what the whole thing was about. "Fine," he finally conceded. "I'll read this one first. But in the meantime, you pick one of the others to look over, okay? And you have to give those a fair try like I'm going to do for this one."

"Roger!" Izumi nodded before picking up another script without even looking at the title. They each settled on their own end of the couch and started reading. The room was quiet for a couple of hours, only the sounds of them breathing, shifting their sitting positions, and occasionally flipping pages.

Finally, Ryouma sighed as he flipped the script shut and set it aside. He saw Izumi glance up at him over the top of the script he'd been going over, eyes framed by his usual dark rimmed glasses. "Okay," Ryouma nodded. "It's a good script. I like it so far." He smiled when he practically saw stars light up Izumi's eyes. "Is it really that important to you that I do this one?"

"I honestly can't think of anyone better suited to play Mui," Izumi smiled sincerely.

Ryouma sighed as he tipped his head back against the arm of the couch. "Then how can I argue with that?"

"Really, Ryouma?" Izumi perked up as he set aside the script he'd been only half-heartedly reading. "You mean it?"

"Yeah," Ryouma answered as he lifted his head and smiled at his boyfriend's excitement. The script had managed to grab his interest and Izumi seemed so excited about the prospect of this project. He was having a hard time saying no even if it meant working with Kisaragi. "I have to at least look over the other scripts though, just to say I actually considered all of them."

Carefully moving his comics to the coffee table with the scripts, Izumi crawled across the couch and settled himself so that he was straddling Ryouma's lap. He wrapped his lithe arms around Ryouma's shoulders as he leaned in and softly said, "Thank you." Kissing his boyfriend, Izumi smiled when he felt Ryouma wrap his arms around his waist and pull him closer. As they separated a few seconds later, Izumi leaned back a little and nodded once before saying, "I know you'll do great in that role." After a moment of thought, he craned his neck around to look at the discarded script as he asked, "Do you know if anyone else has been cast yet?"

"Not a clue," Ryouma answered only partially paying attention to Izumi's words when the wide neck of the smaller man's shirt had put his collarbones on full display with his head turned off to the side.

"Hmm…" Izumi hummed before turning back to Ryouma and raising an eyebrow at the slightly dazed look the brunette was trying to wipe off of his face. "I wonder who they'll get to play Soah."

"Who?" Ryouma asked as he pulled his mind out of the gutter and back to the conversation.

"The female lead opposite Mui," Izumi easily answered.

"Maybe I can talk them into giving the part to you," Ryouma smirked as he pulled Izumi back to his chest so that he could plant kisses up the column of his neck.

"I'm being serious," Izumi laughed in an effort to suppress the shiver that ran up his spine.

"I don't know," Ryouma spoke against Izumi's skin. "I guess we'll just have to wait and see."

"Mmhmm," Izumi answered vaguely as Ryouma managed to pull his thoughts away from the scripts and into a completely different direction.

They could finish looking over the scripts in the morning.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I own neither Inuyasha nor Love Stage! and make no money from these writings.

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Starstruck

Chapter Two

"What are you doing?" Kagome asked with a yawn as she padded across the hardwood floor of her living room in her sock-clad feet. Draping herself across the back of her sofa, she glanced between the man on her couch and what he'd been watching on TV. Honestly, she was tired and comfortable that she could have dozed off again where she was.

Shippou turned his head to look at his housemate and friend before looking back to the program he'd been watching. "I'm watching that variety show you recorded last week. Your episode was on the DVR and I hadn't seen it yet."

"Aww," Kagome smiled as she reached down to pat the demon's knee. "Isn't that sweet. Are you awed by my natural grace and talent?" She teased.

Shippou wasn't exactly the little boy she'd known centuries ago anymore. He'd had grown up tall and strong and - as he so often loved to flaunt - beautiful. It was no small wonder he'd opted to be a model once the modern age had rolled around. Of course, he changed his name and his look every decade or so and usually moved to a new area to live in. But that was sort of the point of the West House production agency. With dwindling populations that merely wanted to blend in and thrive, Sesshoumaru and several other demons had set up a number of businesses that almost exclusively employed demons, set them up with new identities periodically, and helped them keep up appearances that they needed. One of those businesses just happened to be an agency that specialized in employing unnaturally beautiful and talented people.

"Not quite," Shippou snorted as he watched the TV Kagome speak with the show's host. "I'm more impressed by, despite how good you might be playing a fictional character, just how awkward you still are in interviews. It's a feat, really."

"Oh, shut up," Kagome laughed as she swatted at the much larger man before she rolled off of the back of the couch and on top of where Shippou had been lounging.

Aside from a small "oof," there was no protest on Shippou's part as they settled in to watch the recorded TV show together.

Kagome didn't really like to admit it, but Shippou was probably right. She wasn't very good at interviews, especially ones that asked her about herself, because she wasn't very good at lying. As a celebrity managed by a company of demons, her story had to be almost as crafted as her friends'. As far as the public knew, she'd grown up modestly on her family shrine in Tokyo before being discovered while out at karaoke with friends. She'd debuted at the age of seventeen with the prestigious West House, an agency publicly known for only signing the talented and elite.

The reality had been that Shippou had been stalking her family's shrine for centuries waiting for her to show back up after she left the past. The only reason he hadn't snatched her up immediately after she returned was because he'd been working under a different name in a different country. But as soon as his previous persona had suffered a "tragic accident" and he was back in Japan, he'd begged and pestered Sesshoumaru to bring her back into their fold. The way Shippou told it, he'd won the dog demon over by stating that she was pack and family and that they needed to take care of their own. Kagome had her own suspicions that Sesshoumaru simply caved to get Shippou out of his office. Either way, the two of them had shown up at the shrine one day to have a talk with her and her family.

At the time, Kagome had laughed outright at their proposal. She'd never given any thought to fame and fortune beyond the passing daydream that everyone had from time to time. But the more they talked about the possibilities, the more she started to seriously consider what they were saying. She would be moved to a better, more exclusive high school to finish her education. While there, she would start her career with the basics to make a name for herself and get some experience; commercials and ads, photo books, a few variety shows. And after high school, her real career would begin.

And began, it had. Without school occupying most of her day, she'd been thrown into the acting world and had done surprisingly well. She had a surprising amount of life experience to draw from and it made her and expressive actress, to say the least. For Kagome, the past several years had been a whirlwind of TV dramas and comedies with a couple of movies thrown in here and there.

"What time is it?" Kagome asked from where she was still lying on top of Shippou.

Shrugging with a clueless hum, Shippou paused the show before shifting around to dig his phone out of his pocket. "Six-twenty," he answered after checking the front display.

"Crap," Kagome sighed as she rolled off of the couch and stood with a stretch. "Kouga said he'd be here at seven. I have to go get ready or he'll have a fit."

Kouga was another old face she'd found in the modern era. He worked at West House, but since he had a family and had been left with more than a few scars from years of battles, he opted to remain behind the scenes in the agency. So when she'd shown up again and been officially signed up as one of them, he'd volunteered to be her manager and daytime bodyguard. And Kagome genuinely enjoyed the older version of Kouga. The centuries and Ayame had mellowed him out considerably, but the funniest thing (to Kagome, at least) was how much of a mother hen he'd turned into after having a family of his own. Or, it was funny on the days he wasn't all over her about her daily schedule.

Hopping over the back of the couch to trail after Kagome, Shippou asked, "Why do you wait until you have to rush to get ready?"

"I honestly don't know," Kagome sighed. "You'd think that I would've learned by now."

"What do you have going on today?" Shippou prodded as he watched his friend rummage through her drawers and closet for clean clothes. "Do you know?"

"Umm," Kagome said absently as she looked for her favorite fitted vest. "You remember that drama that Jin contacted Kouga about a couple of weeks ago? I'm _pretty_ sure today's the meet and greet for that. We might be doing the first reading of the script."

"Oh, yeah," Shippou drawled. "Have fun working with _that guy_ again."

" _That guy_ isn't that bad, Shippou," Kagome laughed as she finally found everything she'd been looking for to complete her outfit for the day.

Shippou snorted. "He would be if he wasn't afraid of your guard dog."

"Don't let Kouga hear you call him that," Kagome laughed before heading into her bathroom. She'd only just closed the door behind her when she opened it again and stuck her head out. "Oh, and if he gets here before I'm ready, stall him for me, okay?"

"I'll try," Shippou said while hold up his hands. "But you know how he gets. No promises."

"I believe in you," she smiled before ducking back into the bathroom.

Show business really wasn't a career path she'd ever seriously considered when she was younger and she'd be the first to admit that it was usually stressful even during the best of times, but now that she was part of it and had the life she had, Kagome really couldn't imagine doing anything else. Even if she gave Kouga a hard time and rarely got to sleep in, she had fun at her job and loved what she did. How many people could really say that?

Not having time to soak in the tub, Kagome settled for a quick shower before she dried off and got started on drying her long hair. That was another part of being a celebrity that was occasionally bordered on the unsettling. Her fans liked her hair long, so the agency dictated that she keep it long for the time being. Easily reaching down to her lower back, Kagome found it to be more of a hassle than anything else and looked forward to the day that she could at least cut it up to her shoulders. Hell, she'd settle for mid-back at this point. She was just running her fingers through the inky mass checking for any damp areas that she may have missed with the drying when a loud banging on the bathroom door startled her into nearly dropping her brush.

"Hurry it up in there!" Kouga's voice called out from the other side of the door.

Frowning, Kagome quickly wrapped her towel tightly around her before opening the door enough to peep out. "What are you even doing here?" She asked. "You're early! I still have time."

"I have to be early because you're always late," Kouga grumbled back at her, matching her annoyed look with one of his own. "Now get dressed and get out here. You can do your makeup in the car. The morning report mentioned an accident on the route we need to take, so I'm sure traffic is going to be a bitch."

Kagome heaved a sigh before finally nodding with an "Okay, okay, give me a minute." Shutting the bathroom door again, she wondered which of Kouga's kids had gotten him worked up this morning. He was always a little extra edgy when there was drama in the wolf den. But then, with a brood as large as his, some drama and scuffles were to be expected. Especially with more than one set of twins and a few kids with middle child syndrome.

"Alright," Kagome said as she finally emerged from the bathroom fully dressed. Looking up, she couldn't repress the smile at the sight of Kouga lying facedown on her bedspread, mumbling what sounded suspiciously like an impressive string of obscenities at Shippou as the fox flicked at the wolf's pointed ear. "Well, am I presentable for a...meet and greet?" She tested, trying to see if she'd been right about the day's schedule.

Rolling over and moving to sit on the edge of the plush bed, Kouga gave Kagome a flat look. He'd been head over heels for the girl a few centuries ago. He still adored her and counted her among his closest friends. His kids loved her and she was practically family in his pack. But it was only in the present, where she'd originally hailed from, and now that he was a fully matured adult that it struck him just how _young_ she'd been when they'd met. And how young she still was, even if she was an adult by society's standards. Sometimes he felt like he had an extra kid away from his home. "Do you even read the itineraries I email you?" He asked with a sigh.

"Yes," Kagome defended as she planted her hands on her hips. At the look she received from both Kouga _and_ Shippou, she faltered before amending, "Sometimes." Then suddenly feeling like she'd caved too much, she corrected herself again, "Most of the time. About eighty percent."

Taking what he could get at the moment, Kouga nodded as he stood. "Yes, you look fine for the meet and greet. We need to get going, though. Grab your makeup bag and tell me which purse you're taking today. I'll go ahead and transfer your wallet and phone to it." Between Kagome, Ayame, and a few daughters, Kouga had certain routines down to an art at this point in his life.

"The big gray one," Kagome called from her vanity table as she packed a quick travel bag of the makeup she'd need. "You know, the one with the silver trim. It should be in the closet."

"Found it," Kouga called out almost as soon as she'd finished speaking.

Shippou sprawled out on the bed and watched the two work around each other to get Kagome ready to head out for the day before they finally went through their checklist twice and confirmed that they had everything they needed. He gradually helped to herd both of them towards the elevator that would take them downstairs and waved them off with a "Have a nice day!" Though he wasn't sure that either of them even heard him since they were already back to talking about the rest of the itinerary that Kagome had only glanced over.

Once the elevator doors were shut and the house was quiet yet again, Shippou's tails twitched back and forth at having the day to himself. A quick rummage through the freezer yielded the ice cream Kagome thought he didn't know she was hiding from him, and he happily returned to the couch, carton and spoon in hand. "Okay," he said as he settled in and grabbed the remote again. "Time to finish clearing off the DVR."


End file.
